2023 Dandelion Vineyards Pride Cabernet Sauvignon, Fleurieu

There's a brightness and a litheness to this wine, which is irresistible. Decidedly red-fruited, cranberry, red cherry and red plum flavours with a little raspberry leaf tea. The tannins are laden with graphite and paperbark, and the wine does come to a halt fairly abruptly, so pair it with rich protein to see it at its best. Drink 2025 to 2028.

92 points Katrina Butler for Halliday Wine Companion (Special Value), April 2025

Deep in colour, this opens with quite pronounced oak, showing heady and exotic perfumed smoky notes over ripe, dark fruit. The palate is juicy and lifted, with crunchy acidity and a firm, charry tannin grip that carries through to the finish. Give it some time in the glass. Drink 2026 to 2033.

90 points Melissa Moore for The Real Review, January 2026

Elena Brooks founded Dandelion Vineyards with a clear intent: to make wines that speak plainly of the places they come from. Born in Bulgaria and trained in oenology in Australia, she has worked vintages across Europe and South Australia before settling in McLaren Vale. Her winemaking philosophy is built around restraint — spending time in the vineyard, then stepping back in the winery.

The Pride of the Fleurieu is made from fruit grown on Stranger's Reach Vineyard — a dry-grown Cabernet site owned by Tony Brooks and Professor Barbara Santich, perched above the Finniss River wetlands on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula. At just 25 metres above sea level on deep alluvial soils, the site benefits from the cooling influences of the Great Southern Ocean and nearby Lake Alexandrina. Low rainfall and the discipline of dry growing push the vines to their limits and concentrate flavour at the expense of yield.

Hand-picked at end of April and fermented for 14 days in open-top fermenters before basket pressing to predominantly older French oak for 18 months of maturation. No fining, no filtering.

Violet, cassis and liquorice on the nose with layers of tobacco, green herb and a secondary bouquet of pastrami, cinnamon and oak spice. The palate is savoury and taut — concentrated dark fruit with a subtle, hiding-in-plain-sight acidity and fine, youthful tannins that are very much in their early stages. More structured and savoury than the 2022 Pride, and clearly built with time in mind

A winter dinner kind of a wine that rewards extended exposure to air. The wine's dark fruit, herb edge and fine tannins sit comfortably alongside slow-roasted lamb with rosemary and white beans, a Korean galbi braise or aged hard cheese with quince paste and good bread.

Drink now through 2035.